“Are you having fun?” Marcus asked, moving to the side so that Steve could share the flat section of ground where he was standing.
“I am,” Steve said, walking forward and looking down. It was a thirty foot drop. “I think Ryker and August are, too.”
Marcus gave him a look, and when Steve didn’t say anything, he prompted him, “But?”
“I talked to Mom this morning.” Steve swallowed, steeling his nerves. “She told me about Corey.”
Marcus didn’t say anything, but when Steve glanced over at his face, he was frowning.
“Did Dad really make him go into withdrawals to punish him when he didn’t behave?” Steve asked.
For a long time, Marcus didn’t answer.
“It’s not that simple,” Marcus finally said, making a face like he’d tasted something sour. “Mom and Dad were both awful to him. Every time they had a fight, they put Corey in the middle. Mom would push him into defying Dad to prove that he loved her, then Dad would overreact and she would use that to make herself seem like the calm and reasonable one, even though she was the one who set him up to lose his temper. She knew that Corey was the one who would take the brunt of his anger, but she never cared.”
Steve could easily see both his parents acting like that. He hadn’t thought about it in years, but there had been a few times when he was little that his mom had tried to make him defy his father.
Marcus had put a stop to it. Steve didn’t know what he’d said to their mom, but after Marcus talked to her, she’d never tried to instigate conflict between Steve and his father again.
“Did he really kill himself?”
Marcus grimaced and looked away. “He did.”
“Because Dad made him go into withdrawals?”
Marcus nodded.
Steve clenched his jaw and stared at the ground, a crushing sense of disappointment welling up inside of him.
“Don’t ask him about it, okay?” Marcus said.
Steve crossed his arms and stayed silent. He looked down at the lake below, watching his cousin and two of the youngest alphas of the pack lifted the head of their snowman into place. They were grinning, and Steve wished he was down there with them, carefree and not having to think about his dad being a monster to his omega.
“I’m serious,” Marcus said. He reached over and grabbed Steve’s shoulder. “He has a bad habit of reacting violently to any mention of Corey. He might hurt you without meaning to.”
“I won’t mention it,” Steve promised, even though the idea of his dad hurting him felt ridiculous to even contemplate.
Steve had never felt like he was in danger with his dad.
Marcus let go of his shoulder and clapped him on the back. “Thank you.”
“I’m going to go find Ryker and August,” Steve said. He’d gotten the answer he was looking for, and now he wanted his mates to comfort him.
“Of course. I saw Ryker a few minutes ago over by the big rock next to the-”
Marcus suddenly reared back, stopping mid-sentence and snapping his jaw shut with an audible click as he looked around with wild eyes.
“What’s going-”
Steve shut up when Marcus held up his hand to silence him. Marcus spun around, scanning the surrounding area with a look like he was expecting enemy wolves to all of a sudden rush out of the trees and attack the pack en masse.
“Something’s happened to Dad,” Marcus growled, turning around again and searching for the threat.
“How do you know?” Steve asked.
“The mantle of pack alpha is available.” Marcus shuddered, his shoulders going tense as he gritted out, “I can feel it trying to settle on me.”
Steve stared at him, his mind blank and refusing to process the implication of what Marcus was saying.
